WP: Russian fighter jet nearly shot down British spy plane near Crimea
A Russian Su-27 fighter nearly shot down a British RC-135 spy plane near Crimea. The incident happened on September 29, 2022, it became known from leaked Pentagon documents, writes The Washington Post.
According to the publication, the documents call the incident “almost downed British RJ” (Boeing RC-135 ).
British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace told the House of Commons in October that Russian fighter jets were intercepting RC-135s in international airspace over the Black Sea. According to him, one of the fighters fired a missile close to the British aircraft, but out of line of sight. Because of this, the British Air Force had to interrupt patrols.
An earlier publication, citing the same documents, wrote that the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, probably forbade US Air Force pilots to fly close to the Crimea.
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